Proposal:
Amend Rule 1303 - Requirements (New Source Review) and
Rule 2005 - New Source Review for RECLAIM
Synopsis:
Requirements (New Source Review) and Rule 2005 - New Source Review for RECLAIM will incorporate protection of visibility for Federal Class I areas into Regulations XIII and XX. Protection of visibility for Federal Class I areas and notification of Federal Land Managers are requirements of federal law.
Committee:
Not applicable
Recommended Action:
1. Amend Rule 1303 - Requirements and Rule 2005 - New Source Review for RECLAIM, and
2. Certify the CEQA Notice of Exemption for the proposed amendments in accordance with the attached resolution.
James M. Lents, Ph.D.
Executive Officer
PL:AG: RAR
Background
The AQMD Governing Board amended Regulation XIII - New Source Review on December 7, 1995. At that time, the Governing Board deferred some issues including Federal Class I areas protection of visibility and notification to Federal Land Managers (FLMs), which are requirements of federal law and are designed to protect visibility in pristine areas, such as national parks and national forests. There are six Federal Class I areas in the AQMD, namely: Agua Tibia, Cucamonga, Joshua Tree, San Gabriel, San Gorgonio and San Jacinto. Attachment A contains a map showing the locations of these six areas. The United States Forest Service and the National Park Service are the two FLMs that supervise these six Federal Class I areas in the AQMD.
The objective of the protection of visibility and FLM notification requirements is to ensure that the construction of a new major source or modification of an existing major source does not adversely impact the visibility of Federal Class I areas. Such visibility impacts may be caused by the formation of a visible plume or regional haze. The proposal maintains the air quality objectives of Regulation XIII - New Source Review (NSR) and Regulation XX - Regional Clean Air Incentives Market (RECLAIM) while facilitating the ability to new and modified existing sources to comply with the NSR requirements. The overall emission reduction potential of Regulation XIII - New Source Review (NSR)and Regulation XX - Regional Clean Air Incentives Market (RECLAIM) are not expected to change as a result of these proposed amendments.
The staff proposal to amend Rule 1303 - Requirements and Rule 2005 - New Source Review for RECLAIM, will help make the AQMD's NSR program and RECLAIM approvable by EPA for inclusion in the SIP, without unnecessary administrative burden to facilities or government agencies involved. Subsequent amendments to NSR regulations will address the other items that were deferred from the December 7, 1995 Board meeting.
Proposal
Protection of visibility and FLM notification requirements are related to the definitions of "major polluting facility" and "major modification." The AQMD has extremely low thresholds for these definitions because federal and state law have designated the AQMD Basin as being an extreme nonattainment area of air quality standards. If these thresholds were used to require new and modified sources to protection of visibility and FLM notification requirements, thousands of permits each year could potentially be affected. The administrative burden would overwhelm the regulated community, the AQMD, and the FLMs, with potentially little benefit. The AQMD has worked with the federal EPA, Forest Service, National Park Service, and industry in an attempt to reduce the regulatory and administrative burden of these requirements without compromising the CAA goals for protection of visibility in Federal Class I areas. This work has led to the development of applicability criteria for these requirements based on extensive modeling and other CAA requirements.
The staff proposal requires visibility analysis for visible plumes and FLM notification only for new or modified major sources that emit PM1010 or NOX in excess of 15 tons/year of 10PM10 or 40 tons/year of NOX and are located within specific distances of Federal Class I areas in the of the AQMD. The applicable emission thresholds for PM10 and NOX correspond to the trigger levels for major modifications in areas which are in attainment of the relevant NAAQS, namely, 15 tons/year of PM10 and 40 tons/year of NOX. All other criteria pollutants do not affect plume formation or regional haze and therefore, are not part of this analysis. The only applicable pollutant for Rule 2005 is NOX since PM10 is not subject to Regulation XX - RECLAIM. Visible plume modeling is required only for projects that meet or exceed the clearly established emission thresholds and proximity values from Federal Class I areas. The proposed rule amendment also contains requirements for visible plume modeling and specifies certain technical parameters to be used.
If initial modeling identifies potential adverse impacts on visible plumes in a Federal Class I area, additional detailed modeling is required. The rule provides guidance to the Executive Officer relative to permitting and noticing actions, and specifies time limits for FLM review actions so that permit applications are not unduly impacted. In the very unlikely event that a new or modified major stationary source is expected to cause an adverse impact on visibility in a Federal Class I area, the Executive Officer may be required to deny the permit. The applicant always has the option of modifying the project or providing mitigations to obviate any potential adverse impact on visibility, in order to obtain a permit from the AQMD. Attachment B shows the permit action flowcharts for both proposed rules which captures the essence of this proposal.
AQMP & Legal Mandates
The AQMD is required to comply with federal and state NSR requirements, including visibility protection analysis and notification of FLMs as set forth in the CAA. This proposal meets these requirements without an undue administrative burden to industry, the AQMD, or other agencies.
CEQA & Socioeconomic Analysis
The AQMD has reviewed the proposed projects pursuant to Act (CEQA Guidelines Section 15002(k) - Three-Step Process, to determine which type of CEQA document to prepare for the proposed action. The AQMD has determined that the proposed amendments are exempt from CEQA pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Section 15308 - Action by Regulatory Agencies for the Protection of the Environment, since the activity is covered by this Class 8 exemption for actions to assure the maintenance, restoration, enhancement, or protection of the environment.
The Notice of Exemption, prepared pursuant to state CEQA Guidelines Section 15062 - Notice of Exemption, will be filed with the county clerks of Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties immediately following the adoption of the proposal.
A socioeconomic impact assessment will be prepared for part of the adopt hearing package. The approach proposed in the rule is not expected to result in significant financial impact on facilities and will result in much lower compliance costs than if the rule were implemented at a lower threshold.
Implementation Plan
AQMD permitting staff are responsible for implementation of NSR, while AQMD planning staff can assist with modeling analyses. Staff will be trained on the changes to Regulation XIII and will provide technical assistance to applicants regarding the new requirements for modeling and FLM notifications. The FLMs are committed to review visibility modeling results and provide written comments to the Executive Officer for projects that meet the applicability thresholds contained in Proposed Amended Rules 1303 and 2005.
Resource Impact
Current AQMD resources are sufficient to implement the proposed rule amendments rules with negative budget impact.
Attachments (Down Load self-extracting compressed attachment package for this letter in M.S. Office 4.2.)
A. Map of Federal Class I Areas
B. Permit Action Flow Chart
C. Key Issues
D. Rule Development Flow Chart
E. Key Contacts List
F. AQMD Governing Board Resolution
G. CEQA Notice of Exemption
H. Rule Language
I. Staff Report
J. Socioeconomic Impact Report
K. Comment Letters